Saturday night is still a bit chaotic on Washington Avenue when the weather turns nice. Music and the chatter of diners and drinkers blast onto the street, where Ben Clay is waiting for a parking meter to accept his credit card.

Clay said he'd rather pay for a space and get something close than waste time circling the block.

"I understand why they did it," he said of the switch to paid parking. "Otherwise people would stay all day."

Defying doomsday scenarios, paid parking doesn't seem to have dented sales along Washington, which is set to welcome new shops, restaurants and bars this year. The wait at restaurants is as long as ever, and revelers dash across the street at all hours of the night while the clubs are open.

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Residents worked with the city to form the parking district and start metered parking along Washington last May, in the hope of curbing the problem of people swarming the neighborhoods and flooding the streets with cars late into the night.

Businesses worried the new rules would drive business elsewhere, saying parking hassles might threaten the economic growth that made the corridor desirable in the first place.

Parking problems seem to be reduced after nearly nine months of paid parking, and taxable sales at businesses have not slumped.

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Most visitors are parking farther away, either to avoid paying a meter or because no spots on Washington are available at peak times, Newport said. Where parking used to be a headache two or three blocks off Washington, diners and drinkers now are dispersing six and seven blocks away. Even so, residents haven't rushed to file paperwork to restrict parking along their streets, Newport said.

"They either do not think people parking in front of their house is a big deal or they don't want to go through the program," he said.

Free parking

Businesses have also adjusted. In some cases, lots where owners once charged visitors to park have reverted to free parking for bar and restaurant patrons.

Though some businesses have shuttered, city tax reports indicate sales tax receipts along Washington, for the most part, have not fallen compared to the same month in the prior year. August, October and November did post lower sales. Mixed beverage sales, however, were lower from June to October last year as the parking rules sunk in.

At their lowest point, mixed beverage sales in October were about $100,000 less than the previous year, though they rebounded and jumped to about $90,000 more the following month compared to November 2012.

Despite the successes, the parking program is struggling to generate the money anticipated.

"We're not seeing the income amount we would like to see," said Phyllis Thomason, chairwoman of the parking district's advisory board. "We can't do any (improvement) projects yet, and that's the fun part of this."

A separately funded project by the Houston Arts Alliance will cover some of the meters along Washington in a topiary enclosed on a steel frame.

"We decided if we don't have real trees let's do this for now," Thomason joked.

Improvements in 2021?

The city's agreement with the local board requires total revenue of $250,000 before any sidewalks, landscaping or other improvements can begin. Based on current rates, the district won't reach that amount until 2021.

If the city lowers the threshold to $100,000, reduces the staff patrolling the district and shares some of the citation revenue with the local district, some small projects could be considered later this year.

"The project is paying for itself one way or another," Newport said. "Right now, we just want to make sure the split is fair for the residents so they can maybe get some of the other benefits ... Now that we have more information on what this costs."